as a somalia as a potential haven for al qaeda. >> somalia is very much a potential haven.hat degree it is at the moment is still an open question. what certainly is there is an insurgent force which is, which has both in rhetoric and action called up al qaeda as a mentor force, as the standard it would follow and it's got a lot of people worried. >> reporter: when i asked anderson whether he returned from somalia with hope or fear. he cited last week's suicide bombing as well as his own experience in mogadishu. the setting was a private university, established only recently to train doctors amid the chaos. and the three government ministers killed, he said, were "diaspora" somalis-- who'd fled the violence, but later returned to help their country. >> so i came away with a strong feeling of hope on the one hand because i saw diaspora somalis, somalis that had lived out comfortable lives in the west, but had returned because they're patriotic, because they want to do something with their lives other than make money somewhere. and yet, you know, worried and anxious because o

>> let's put ithis way, i flew in with e president of somalia.anded on an rstrip where there was a crashed jet, and justcrub, you could see the ocean nearby, the indian oan. very, very low buildings all sun-bleached andovered with st. there were armored personn carriers and troops awaing us on the airstrip. they belongeto the african union. they were ugandans. i was immediately hustleinto e of those a.p.c.s that had two chine gunners on turrets on top. and , within a few minutes, had assembled a long convoy th armored cars. >> reporter: and thiis the present. >>his is his arrival home. the was not a street left unguded. we thewent through a series of an-suicide bomber barriers, past me sentries, and into the gates of the villa somia, which is theresidential palace. that is the ly turf he controls. >> reporter: t president anderson accompaed is sheikh sharif ahmed-- w was himself once allied wi the "shabab". sinchis split with the group, the u.s. has lt financial and miliry support to hi government. this summer in kya, secretary of state clinton b

they went to somalia, attended camps and conducted operations. the recruits were males between the ages of 17 and 30, they were born in somalia, raised in refugee camps in kenya then came as refugees to the united states as children and were raised in an impoverished divided community. they included high-achieving high school and college students, in all other ways, the recruits were indistinguishable from the other members of their community. what motivated them? their movement toward radicalization could be explained by multiple push and pull factors. most of the somali community in minnesota are subject to push factors that distinguish them from other american muslims. such as war exposure, forced displacement. living in refugee camps, poverty, ghettoization, secondary migration, inadequate services and family instability. poll factors also played a key role. internet exposure to violence in somalia and to extremist political and ideological views, the somali warrior tradition, the 2006 ethiopian invasion of somalia bp all of these factors wer

they went to somalia, attended camps and conducted operations. the recruits were males between the ages of 17 and 30, they were born in somalia, raised in refugee camps in kenya then came as refugees to the united states as children and were raised in an impoverished divided community. they included high-achieving high school and college students, in all other ways, the recruits were indistinguishable from the other members of their community. what motivated them? their movement toward radicalization could be explained by multiple push and pull factors. most of the somali community in minnesota are subject to push factors that distinguish them from other american muslims. such as war exposure, forced displacement. living in refugee camps, poverty, ghettoization, secondary migration, inadequate services and family instability. poll factors also played a key role. internet exposure to violence in somalia and to extremist political and ideological views, the somali warrior tradition, the 2006 ethiopian invasion of somalia bp all of these factors wer

>> if you look at yemen, you're looking at somalia and countries like this. on the west coast of africa. but what is interesting about nigeria in particular, when a research group recently researched people's reaction to osama bin laden, the pew research institute did this in nigeria, they got surprisingly high numbers of people saying that they at least supported osama bin laden's ideology. it's not -- it's certainly not a country where al qaeda is known to have a large grouping of people, a large affiliated terror group following it there that supported bin laden. but we do know al qaeda has extended its influence over the northern parts of africa in particular. but i think when you look at this particular case, you may be looking at somebody who's bought into the ideology of al qaeda and is perhaps more representative of the threat as it is today, rather than what it has been over the past few years. that is, individuals that pose a threat because they've brought into the ideology -- >> this is a big deal. this is a very big deal. for those viewers who hav

we would not to collect the differences -- the dangers and yemen and somalia.important center of global terrorism remains the one we have been talking about today. >> the prime minister always mentions the sacrifice made by our our soldiers. but repeating the political mistakes of a generation ago, talking about the vietnam and the decision being taken that we had to withdraw, but it came no closer to an outcome that could not be one. >> i think he ought to look at what the evidence is for the support of the taliban in afghanistan. his assumption is that somehow the insurgency has massive popular support and that the vast been jarred the of the population would go with that insurgency if they had the choice. i do not think that reflects the situation in afghanistan. a poll was done recently that said that only 8% of the population of a canister and supported it in any way the taliban and the insurgency. i believe most wants security and safety. i believe that they will support the partnering of british and coalition forces with afghan forces and i believe that

and you have the somali men who went from minneapolis to fight with the affiliated group in somalia. and the great fear is that perhaps these young men had some intention to do one or the other, wage jihad overseas or come back and do something here. i will tell you one law enforcement source says there are no charges that have been brought here. this is still very much an investigation. they say the hints that they've seen thus far in the investigation lead them to believe that their intention was to do something overseas. to wage jihad. >> larry: we'll be following up on this tomorrow night. thank you, thank you very much very much. two experts on terrorism tell us what they think on all this next. [ female announcer ] get more of what you love when you create your own seafood feast at red lobster. choose two or three from new creations... like wood-grilled shrimp with garlic creme and parmesan... to classics like succulent steamed crab legs. for a limited time, at red lobster. every time you take advil liqui-gels you're taking the pain reliever that works faster on tough pain than

afghan national -- >> the anti-american sentiment that is spurred by this in pakistan and yemen and somalia and other parts of the world, you try to nip it in the bud here, it pops up somewhere else. >> it's a danger. one of the greatest resentments is their perception that we deserted them in 1989 when the russians pulled out, we ended our involvement with them. and they believe that we walked away from them. i think it is a balance. i think we need to give as much help as they need to get on their feet and i think we need to help them stand by themselves. >> the time for the gentle lady has expired. the gentleman from california has graciously agreed to one minute. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman -- >> no, no, elton is son for five minutes. >> i have one minute. i have like 52 seconds left. i would like to say general and ambassador, thank you for your service. i know you face challenges that are in some people's views very difficult, if not more so from alexander the great to the soviet union. i appreciate the job you're doing. and we want to try to give you all the support that we

if we stand up to shareef's militia now, we can prevent hezbollah from taking over somalia. we could prevent a lot of money being spent and destabilize the area. what about the fact, do we have enough time and manpower to train the afghans to prevent our troops from being in harm's way and have them take over, because like i said, i just -- just feel very troubled that more american troops are going to be sent into afghanistan. >> sir, i share your concern about other places where al qaeda is growing. somalia and kenya are two in particular, their core leadership, and their heartbeats in that border between afghanistan and pakistan. that's why it's so critical. with respect to enough time, the entire military chain of demand believes -- and the joint chiefs -- we will know where we are by summer '11 and if we can succeed here or not. we know we have to get the horses in, we have to turn the security situation around. it's under that umbrella we'll be able to develop the afghan security forces. the army and the police, we've got goals set to do that, there's some challenges a

there are other franchise sells and places like yemen and somalia. but this is the most dangerous one. they all need to be addressed. this has a significantly more capable center of gravity if you will because of all of the organizations that are associated with al qaeda in this border area. >> i appreciate that. could i add one sentence in terms of underscoring the central role of al qaeda in the afghan pakistan border area. the reality is al qaeda and the islamic monrad, al qaeda in the arab peninsula place high value on their affiliation with al qaeda in the border area and there is ample intelligence showing other terrorist groups that basically are in the application process. to become affiliates of al qaeda so the central pathology and the central role of these people is still there. >> let me just say that i think it is going to be zearing important in the next day's to really build this linkage so that people have a real understanding of the importance and that obviously biggs the question and i don't want to abuse the time so i will ask it n

these troops are invited in some of the fighting in somalia, currently in yemen, as well as the broader south asia region. but last year, instead of saying that africa is not a war area where we do not need a lot of troops and bases, instead of that, they say, well, we are going to set up an african command. they never had a separate command for africa. and they said to we're going to do is we will have the pentagon to take over everything the u.s. does in africa. so the pentagon is taking over aids and hiv care, health care development, overall development assistance. all this is now run by the pentagon. it would normally be run by the state department or usaid. this is dangerous, and we see it taking place in the creation of a new command in africa. the goal is to establish bases all over africa to do this. so far, the african government has said, we do not what your bases here. the headquarters is in germany now. the headquarters for africom is in germany, and there is no sign that that will change anytime soon. but the policy of militarizing the u.s. relationship with africa through

we would not to collect the differences -- the dangers and yemen and somalia. important center of global terrorism remains the one we have been talking about today. >> the prime minister always mentions the sacrifice made by our our soldiers. but repeating the political mistakes of a generation ago, talking about the vietnam and the decision being taken that we had to withdraw, but it came no closer to an outcome that could not be one. >> i think he ought to look at what the evidence is for the support of the taliban in afghanistan. his assumption is that somehow the insurgency has massive popular support and that the vast been jarred the of the population would go with that insurgency if they had the choice. i do not think that reflects the situation in afghanistan. a poll was done recently that said that only 8% of the population of a canister and supported it in any way the taliban and the insurgency. i believe most wants security and safety. i believe that they will support the partnering of british and coalition forces with afghan forces and i believe that

we would not to collect the differences -- the dangers and yemen and somalia. important center of global terrorism remains the one we have been talking about today. >> the prime minister always mentions the sacrifice made by our our soldiers. but repeating the political mistakes of a generation ago, talking about the vietnam and the decision being taken that we had to withdraw, but it came no closer to an outcome that could not be one. >> i think he ought to look at what the evidence is for the support of the taliban in afghanistan. his assumption is that somehow the insurgency has massive popular support and that the vast been jarred the of the population would go with that insurgency if they had the choice. i do not think that reflects the situation in afghanistan. a poll was done recently that said that only 8% of the population of a canister and supported it in any way the taliban and the insurgency. i believe most wants security and safety. i believe that they will support the partnering of british and coalition forces with afghan forces and i believe that

we can take a look at nigeria, somalia, afghanistan, pakistan. and other places around the world.t is one of the real problems that we have dealing with al qaeda and al qaedaesque organizations. >> larry: those terror watch lists, what do they really mean? we'll discuss that later. we'll be back in 60 seconds. ♪ happy anniversary wow! [ grunts ] oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. aah! [ door opens, closes ] wow. what's the occasion? [ male announcer ] relax. pam helps you pull it off. >> larry: as we mentioned earlier, homeland security secretary janet napolitano was interviewed today on cnn's "state of the union." candy pressed the secretary on the efficiency of the databases for screening out potential terrorists. watch. >> here's someone who's father came to the u.s. embassy and said i'm worried about his ties and i'm worried he's becoming increasingly militant. he's on a list, but no one looks at him more closely apparently than any other passenger. it seems to me there's all these computer lists and this one has suspected ties and this is the no-fly list. is there a way to merge

when you have people in pakistan or going to somalia, training overseas, hooking up with al qaeda and we have seen successful terrorist attacks in the united states. there was attack in little rock, arkansas, who killed an american soldier and injured another. and then hasan, he was giving away his possessions and dressed in white the morning of the massacre and it looks like a jihadi terrorist attack. >> peter l the united states send intelligence officials to the pakistan to find out more about this? >> sure and in pakistan there is a sub substantial fbi and there are officials that will look at the case seriously. we have heard from pakistani reports that the group of americans wanted to hook up with a group called judge mohamed in pan stack. it was the group that killed daniel pearl and if that allegation is true, these guy wrs getting in pretty deep. >> larry: paul, how do you gather the people are recruited in. >> that's a great question. lots of cases, it could be individuals in the community, radicalizers with ideology to come in and we are seeing that the sbrernl is more and

and officials in somalia reported a somali nation tried to board commercial airliner there last month wita bomb that close resembled the one the northwest flight. that's aed to the urgency in the u.s. andther countries to improve screening. today, the dutch announcedhey will begin using fulbody scanrs on all flights to the u.s. >> ( transled ): however, serity gates currently used only detect metal, which iwhy body searches e carried out sporadically. this combination is, of urse, not watertight whi is why the decision has been madeo introducfull body scanne at schiphol forlights to the united states. >> reporter: andigeria said it will purche the 3d scanners as well. ck in the u.s., the preliminary fiings from the investations ordered by the presidenare due tomorrow. >>rown: ray's recounting of the timetable events raises questis that investigators and officials are now asng: where were the gaps innformation and action? why weren't various dots connecd? d what's to be done going forward? these are, ocourse, similar estions to those raised afte september 11, 2001 and we ask them noof

the administration you've killed non ha haan, and you've gone after the pirates off of the coast of somalia. they've had some successes. they haven't let up on going out and doing some cam tur kill operations. as you noted earlier it was two people released during the bush administration that wound up back on the battlefield in yemen. the bush administration is not dealing with that properly, so we wintd out up how to deal with terrorists? do we treat them according to our rules of law or put nem a military tribunal. throws them back so they can come back and fill us again, that's not a plan i believe in. >> can we really win a war against terrorism? that's right after this. [ female announcer ] treat yourself to something special for lunch. how about a coastal soup and grilled shrimp salad combination at red lobster? or maybe our new shrimp jambalaya simmered with creole spices. skewers of wood-grilled shrimp or your choice of shrimp paired with wood-grilled chicken. seafood lunches starting at just $6.99 that fit into your budget and your lunch hour. only at red lobster. new aches and pai

under the obama administration you've killed hunn in somalia who was pons i believe for one of the embassymbings in tanzania. you've got after the pirates. they've had successes. they haven't let up on doing capture/kill operations. as you noted earlier, it was two people released during the bush administration that wound up back on the battlefield in yemen. the bush administration didn't deal with that, and frankly the obama administration is not dealing with that properly. how do we deal with terrorists? do we treat them according to rules and law or put nem in a military tribunal. throwing them back on the battlefield to kill us again, that's not a plan i believe in. >> larry: i'm going to ask this panel if we can really win a war against terrorism right after this. >>> we're back. peter bergen, logically can we assume a terrorist is born today somewhere. can we ever win this war? >> look, you can make it and manage it so it's a nuisance and not a major strategic problem. right now the al qaeda the threat to the united states is not on the strategic level. it's more on the tactical leve

people can be convinced that denying them sanctuary in afghanistan when they can go to yemen and somalia worth the enormous cost in blood and treasure. is it because destabilizing afghanistan would destabilize pakistan? this connection, let me ask you a specific question is the model of a national afghan government and national army futile since it is contrary to afghan's history. under karzai's three-time ratified national government army model, taliban now control 11 of 34 provinces. the afghan national army controls one, i think. and i believe the national security forces probably control none of those provinces. and they are seeing as being as ineffective, incapable of being effective for a number of years. >> mr. bartlett, one of the concerns that i had after the president's decisions in march was that they were interpreted as the united states supporting full scale nation building in afghanistan and also the creation of a strong centralized government. as you point out, the latter has not existed in all of afghan history. and one of the elements of the dialogue that we have had ins

and officials in somalia reported a somali national tried to board a commercial airliner there last month with a bomb that closely resembled the one on the northwest flight. that's added to the urgency in the u.s. and other countries to improve screening. today, the dutch announced they will begin using full-body scanners on all flights to the u.s. >> ( translated ): however, security gates currently used only detect metal, which is why body searches are carried out sporadically. this combination is, of course, not watertight which is why the decision has been made to introduce full body scanners at schiphol for flights to the united states. >> reporter: and nigeria said it will purchase the 3d scanners as well. back in the u.s., the preliminary findings from the investigations ordered by the president are due tomorrow. >> brown: ray's recounting of the timetable of events raises questions that investigators and officials are now asking: where were the gaps in information and action? why weren't various dots connected? and what's to be done going forward? these are, of course, similar que

yemen, somalia, other weak states, if you will. what's to stop them? and what are we doing tactically to prevent them from going to other areas and how do you assess the threats of the other areas as being hospitable if we have success and eliminating them from afghanistan? >> terrorists do best in the uncovered areas. they do not survive in areas that have an effective rule of law or governance. what we are trying to do is create areas of security into which we can fill that vacuum with governance and hopefully afghan people so it becomes more durable. when you talk about outside afghanistan, the same thing applies. the we see people moving with there is less effective governance. our best way forward is to partner with those nations to try to increase in government. we need to complement that with precision strikes so you can't allow leaders or sanctuaries to emerge. you have to keep them under pressure as you do these other things. there is no simple answer. it is security, governance, development, a decision striking. >> and i agree with that the p

where al qaeda and its allies attempt to establish a foothold, whether in somalia or yemen or elsewhere, they must be confronted by growing pressure and strong partnerships. and we cannot count on military might alone. might alone. we have to invest we cannot count on military might alone. we cannot capture or kill every violent extremist abroad. we have to better corporate our intelligence so we stayed one step ahead of chad we networks. we will have to take away the tools of mass destruction. that is why i have made it a central pillar of my foreign policy to secure loose nuclear materials from terrorists, stop the spread of nuclear weapons, and pursue the goal of a world without them. every nation must understand that that's true security will not come from a race for ever more destructive weapons. true security will come for those who reject them. we will have to use diplomacy because no one nation can meet the challenges of an interconnected world acting alone i have spent this year renewing our alliances and forging new partnerships. we have forged a new beginning between america

anything we do there will be worthless because al qaeda will go and set themselves up in yemen or somaliaer places. we can chase them down there. we need to be seen by the muslims of the world to be doing the right thing in afghanistan. i'm also very cautious as well about pakistan. pakistan's commitment to what president obama wants to achieve. it's a weak government. if you look at where the al qaeda threat to the united states comes from right now, the people that have been arrested here recently, zazi, they've been to al qaeda training camps inside pakistan, not afghanistan. it's the pakistani government who are not yet committed to tackling the afghan taliban. that goes beyond these large numbers of troops we're committing. >> larry: peter, do we have no clout with pakistan? >> do we have no clout? i think we do have some clout. i mean, we're giving them $1.5 billion a year in aid. you know, we have pretty good relationships between the u.s. military and the pakistani military. we have very frequent visits by admiral mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs. i think he's been to isla

. >> last nighwe did a segment on somalia as a pontial failed state and that sounds like what we a talking about he too. this one is on the borr of saudi arab. >> right. >> i think to pick up onne of theoints about the safe haveand failed state issue , waziristan, northwest frontier provinces in pakistan and yemen athe second o are the two imary areas of concern, many places in the world t fear of a failedtate, theris less there than our fear was lead us to lieve. t in these two cases itly is sething of real concern for policymakersnd counterterrorism officials, absolutely. >> you saithe u.s. was pushing for mo action and as we said in our setup, t u.s. is give morningoney now. ishere a debate here in the u. about doing even more? >>h, i think so. and i thini would hate to undereimate yemen's ability tobsorb foreign assistance but the foreign assistance yem gets is grossly disproportiona to the military asstance going into the country. counterterrorism tining, training for theorder guards and theoast guard. i think a big policyia, however s thatveryone knows what we want to avoi in yem, st

they're very worri about this and woied about the guy from somalia.ey're worried about two pele from the new yorarea. they've very, very worried tt these guys a... why would they be moved tgo to pakistan for this? why kind of peline is there rhaps even in the united states thasends people there and what they can do about stopping them either befe they leave or once they gethere. but they don't feel li they have a good hale on all of the amicans who are going back and forth to places like pakista . >> brown: arthey considering a success ory as he puts in the this case? >> i don think so at this point. they're ry grate to feel the families for helping but ihink they're glad thecaught this at the stage ey have but i don't think they wld call a success story. >>rown: josh meyer, nihad awad, thank you very muc >> lehrer: next tonit, excerpts from charlie rose's convertion about going to the people, th u.s. army general stanley mcrystal head of allied forces in afghanistan >> the core your philosophy is you have to convince e afghan pple that they have a re

. >> suarez: hundreds o >> lehrer: hundreds of students also marched through somalia's capital today. the rally in mogadishu was the first known demonstration against islamic militants who control much of the country. it came four days after a suicide bomber attacked a university graduation ceremony. that explosion killed 24 people, including three government ministers. the somali government warned today suicide bombers plan to disguise themselves as army generals and target the presidential palace, airport, and seaport. elections in iraq may be pushed back a month or more. the vote was originally scheduled for mid-january. but today, the country's electoral commission recommended a 45-day delay to february 27 at the earliest. it is subject to approval by the iraqi presidential council. the iraqi parliament finally adopted the law authorizing the election over the weekend. in washington, the chairman of the federal reserve cautioned it's too soon to tell if the recovery will take hold. ben bernanke said in a speech the economy is still struggling with a weak job market and tight credi

. >> last night we did a segment on somalia as a potential failed state and that sounds like what we are talking about here too. this one is on the border of saudi arabia. >> right. >> i think to pick up on one of the points about the safe haven and failed state issue , waziristan, northwest frontier provinces in pakistan and yemen as the second one are the two primary areas of concern, many places in the world the fear of a failed state, there is less there than our fear was lead us to believe. but in these two cases itly is something of real concern for policymakers and counterterrorism officials, absolutely. >> you said the u.s. was pushing for more action and as we said in our setup, the u.s. is give morning money now. is there a debate here in the u.s. about doing even more? >> oh, i think so. and i think i would hate to underestimate yemen's ability to absorb foreign assistance but the foreign assistance yemen gets is grossly disproportionate to the military assistance going into the country. counterterrorism training, training for the border guards and the coast guard. i think

yemen, somalia, other weak states, if you will. what's to stop them?and what are we doing tactically to prevent them from going to other areas and how do you assess the threats of the other areas as being hospitable if we have success and eliminating them from afghanistan? >> congressman, terrorists and insurgents do best in undergoverned or ungoverned areas. they thrive on that. and they don't survive in areas that have effective rule of law and governance. what we're trying to do inside afghanistan is create, first, areas of security into which we can fill that vacuum with effective governance, hope for the afghan people so it becomes more durable. outside afghanistan, the same thing applies. we see terrorists moving to places like somalia, yes, ma'am 'em where there is less effective governance. our best way is to try to increase governance. we need to complement that with precision strikes. so you can't allow leaders or sanctuaries to emerge. keep them under pressure as you do these other things. the thing about counter insurgency or counterterrror

there was allusion in the president's speech about yemen and somalia. i think al-qaeda is absolutely lathing analysts. we chased them around and around. -- i think al-qaeda is absolutely laughing at us. the reasoning is impossible. also, follow the money. if this is costing us $1 million a soldier -- the soldiers are not getting anywhere near the top $1 million. where is that $1 million galene? if there has to be a war tax, let the people who are profiting financially from this horrible war pay the tax. host: what did you think about the president delivering a speech at the military academy at west point? caller: i regret saying that any time i hear any politicians speak right now it just sounds like blah blah blah. we start with these false premises that are completely destructive. host: denise in cincinnati. she supports the president. caller: good morning. i totally support dumps president. -- i totally support the president. i do support the exit strategy. i think it is needed. i commend him for this. it takes a mind to think first and then react. w

defeat the violent extremists who threaten us, whether they are from afghanistan or pakistan, yemen or somalia, or anywhere where they are plotting attacks against the u.s. homeland. >> ifill: what's known so far? 23-year-old umar farouk abdulmutallab bought his ticket with $2800 in cash on december 16th. he checked no bags. he boarded the plane in lagos and cleared security there as well as in amsterdam where the flight made a stop-over. the jet was on final approach to detroit when abdulmutallab allegedly tried to ignite explosives concealed under his clothing. authorities said he used a syringe to inject triggering chemicals into a small bag of crystal even explosives known as pcpn. instead of blowing up, the bag simply caught fire then passengers and crew subdued the suspect. abdulmutallab was treated for burns and sent to a low-security federal pli son in michigan, about 45 miles south of detroit. on sunday homeland security secretary defended the government's handling of the case. >> the system worked. everybody played an important role here. the passengers and crew of the flight took ap

if you look on a map, it's a hop, skip and a jump across the red sea over the somalia. we have had issues from that. tens of thousands of refugees are in yemen right now. it is clearly one of those places where the nexus of terror definitely tends to unite across a singular purpose toshgs try and plan these type of spectacular attacks. speaking to officials just last week about yemen, one yemeni source telling me they have u.s. drone support in the country because the u.s. is becoming more and more concerned about what's going on in yemen and its potential to be that kind of a terrorist hub. >> there have been activities there and there is some speculation that this could be in response to that. paula newton is our international security correspondent. we heard from a reporter in detroit a few minutes ago about another passenger on a different flighting in from amsterdam. this passenger was arrested earlier today. now have word from delta airlines that that passenger was intoxicated, caused a disturbance and was subdued. that flight was met by authorities at the request

those tentacles reach far and wide, they reach to somalia and yemen, etc. their focus and grounded in the border area between pakistan and afghanistan. it is our assessment, it might been possible if we had gone at it differently in the beginning of this war to have captured and killed enough of al qaeda and taliban leadership to have made a difference, but we are where we are right now. >> if i could be permitted one final question, another point of view that is offered, voices that are raised, that we are focused on the wrong place. al qaeda is now essentially located in the tribal areas of pakistan. why are we doing this in afghanistan? my understanding of testimony is that were we to adopt the strategy, the taliban would reassert itself in afghanistan, having safe havens there from which to launch attacks. no. 2, we can not going to pakistan. we have to try to build up the pakistan these capability of dealing with the problem there. this is not an either or choice. ignoring one would undermine the other. if you care to address this notion that we could

to carry out actual attacks -- we have two american suicide bombers in somalia -- is a radical ideologylves more than just law enforcement. we have to deal with the radical ideology that comes before the pilots. that is difficult and it -- that comes before the violence. that is difficult in the united states. but you cannot scream a fire in a movie theater. this means dealing with a radical ideology, and competing with that narrative. host: matthew levitt is with us until 9:00 the eastern. we will get your calls momentarily. talking about homegrown terrorism. you were part of the presidential task force that released this publication, "rewriting the narrative -- an integrated strategy for counter radicalization." was as a counter to the -- was this a counter to the report released in march or was this an obama administration initiative? guest: it involved an equal number of democrats and republicans, people advising the campaign's of barack obama and mccain. whoever occupy the white house, they should have good thinking about how to deal with this for a difficult problem. -- this very

any possible links between the attempted christmas day airliner bombing and a similar incident in somalia last month. officials will not speak on the record about the probe. this morning, "washington journal" spoke with a fox is national correspondent about the investigation and security precautions being implemented. this is about 45 minutes. one of the many items c-span.org available. /store. -- >> "washington journal" continues. host: the president's statement yesterday, what does it say to you about intelligence? guest: the president essentially said eight years after 9/11 there was a systemic breakdown, people were not sharing intelligence and the one not connecting the dots. what we know now is the 23- year-olds suspect's father went to the embassy in nigeria and it specifically with a cia officer. after that meeting, the cia had the suspect's name and that information was passed to washington and then he got on this very broad base of about 500,000 people. people i am speaking to on the intelligence side of the house said that there was not one single piece of information sitting o

mo mo somalia is one.and would have to include some rising economies like china, russia, india. do you see any efforts toward that happening in any kind of broadway and consensus building that enough nationsç are concerned enough about the dangers of failed states that a broader integrated effort will take place? that is a broad question. i think i will leave it this wh wh guest: in pakistan and afghanistan you seeç the effor being led by the united states, butç there are nato countries that are joining the united states in that effort. the problem is that a lot of these situations of failed states, as a broad subject, becomes very specific we you talk about specific countries like afghanistan. then there arises the question of the popularity of that in the country. afghanistan ha feted as cause among nato countries. while the united states had a lot of allies when we first went in afghanistan, a lot of these countries that were our countries have tired of these wars. they have associated them with geor

that was a week after congress had ordered the last american servicemen out of somalia in a congressionallyandated withdraw six months after black hawk down. and it was, as i remember it, a kind of harrowing accent and it was one where he think many people felt weren't and were leaving a part of the world were a lot of americans were questioning what we were even doing there in the first place. that was the context. and then, as soon as the genocide began in the killing intensified, the u.s. government did what we often do in those circumstances, which is everything we can to extricate safely the americans on the ground. we shut our embassy amount we pulled out, and also in a very dangerous and overland evacuation, all american diplomatic personnel, and the american private citizen that wanted to leave that we've are able to assist to lead. and then, we effectively last hour on the ground eyes and ears, except for what later became a significant price presence and what later became a significant but a vocal ngo presidents. back came some days if not weeks down the road. and i think the grea

or somalia or the united kingdom or elsewhere.at we see is al qaeda, despite their being under pressure and despite their limited numbers and despite the fact there were few of them in afghanistan right now, they are taking advantage of the situation in the region to play a destabilizing and dangerous road. what they have learned as i suggested is in an uncovered space, you have the opportunity to recover and reconstitute and reassert yourself which is what the taliban did in pakistan over three years. now they are in a position with -- where with their momentum they are challenging successfully significant numbers of modern armies. the point is that if given -- if parts of southern and eastern afghanistan once again come under the control of the taliban, that would be space in which a credit could reconstitute itself for a much as the taliban did in pakistan in recent years. and then expand their operations and capabilities to launch attacks against europe and the u.s. and all over the world. >> the following three points. we hav

this is true in failed states like somalia, where tourism and piracy is joined by famine and human sufferinghuman suffering. -- terrorism and piracy is joined by famine and human suffering. this will be true for years to come. leaders and allies demonstrate this truth through the courage they showed in afghanistan. but in many countries, this is a disconnect between the efforts of those who served andç the ambivalence of the broader public. i understand what war is not popular, but i also know this -- the belief that peace is desirable is rarely enough to achieve it. peace requires responsibility to. peace entails sacrifice. amt was the international reception to the president's words in reference to our allies and making a unified effort in afghanistan? guest: it was not hostile, but i don't think it made an overwhelming impression. if i could just talk a minute about the issue of allies in afghanistan, there is a fundamental difference between the american public and most european publics that i have had contact with. americans tend to accept that there is a security reason that european

account the united states did in fact intervene on the behalf of muslims and bosnia and kosovo and somalia there was a famine and kuwait when it was occupied by saddam hussein's forces. and then there was the earthquake and pakistan, the tidal wave and the rescue effort after that in indonesia. certainly the united states was viewed favorably by those people that benefited from that. so to throw back at you in that sense, is it too narrow to judge united states only by the worst things that happened or only by the best things that happened, or is there some way to take all the elements into account? >> that is why i say it is confusing when it comes to the middle east in the arab world and the muslims. if you go back to the early 1950's, you find that the united states was split on the issue of recognition of the state of israel. the state department was opposed. president truman was basically advocating a state. until 1956, we did not support the state of israel. we're opposed even supporting it through arms or enter into any kind of negotiations or treaties with israel. with john f. kenn

these troops are invited in some of the fighting in somalia, currently in yemen, as well as the broader south asia region. but last year, instead of saying that africa is not a war area where we do not need a lot of troops and bases, instead of that, they say, well, we are going to set up an african command. they never had a separate command for africa. and they said to we're going to do is we will have the pentagon to take over everything the u.s. does in africa. so the pentagon is taking over aids and hiv care, health care development, overall development assistance. all this is now run by the pentagon. it would normally be run by the state department or usaid. this is dangerous, and we see it taking place in the creation of a new command in africa. the goal is to establish bases all over africa to do this. so far, the african government has said, we do not what your bases here. the headquarters is in germany now. the headquarters for africom is in germany, and there is no sign that that will change anytime soon. but the policy of militarizing the u.s. relationship with africa through

to carry out actual attacks -- we have two american suicide bombers in somalia -- is a radical ideologyit involves more than just law enforcement. we have to deal with the radical ideology that comes before the pilots. that is difficult and it -- that comes before the violence. that is difficult in the united states. but you cannot scream a fire in a movie theater. this means dealing with a radical ideology, and competing with that narrative. host: matthew levitt is with us until 9:00 the eastern. we will get your calls momentarily. talking about homegrown terrorism. you were part of the presidential task force that released this publication, "rewriting the narrative -- an integrated strategy for counter radicalization." was as a counter to the -- was this a counter to the report released in march or was this an obama administration initiative? guest: it involved an equal number of democrats and republicans, people advising the campaign's of barack obama and mccain. whoever occupy the white house, they should have good thinking about how to deal with this for a difficult problem. -- thi

these troops are invited in some of the fighting in somalia, currently in yemen, as well as the broaderon. but last year, instead of saying that africa is not a war area where we do not need a lot of troops and bases, instead of that, they say, well, we are going to set up an african command. they never had a separate command for africa. and they said to we're going to do is we will have the pentagon to take over everything the u.s. does in africa. so the pentagon is taking over aids and hiv care, health care development, overall development assistance. all this is now run by the pentagon. it would normally be run by the state department or usaid. this is dangerous, and we see it taking place in the creation of a new command in africa. the goal is to establish bases all over africa to do this. so far, the african government has said, we do not what your bases here. the headquarters is in germany now. the headquarters for africom is in germany, and there is no sign that that will change anytime soon. but the policy of militarizing the u.s. relationship with africa through our efforts wit

this is true in failed states like somalia, where tourism and piracy is joined by famine and human sufferingto the president's words in reference to our allies and making a unified effort in afghanistan? guest: it was not hostile, but i don't think it made an overwhelming impression. if i could just talk a minute about the issue of allies in afghanistan, there is a fundamental difference between the american public and most european publics that i have had contact with. americans tend to accept that there is a security reason that we are in afghanistan for national security. the question is can we do it, is it possible, and are we messing it up? with many european publics, when you get to questions of why troops are in afghanistan, the answers will be about allied solidarity, working with the americans, sustaining commenced to nato. there are important political reasons, but they are not as fundamentally important as the national security arguments that americans make. you don't have the political base that governments need to send a larger numbers of troops. at the same time, governments ha

some explosive damages there, or the resarrestf people in minneapolis who were shifting people to somalia for terrorist activity. then you see the immediate danger to the united states. the president knew of this danger when he was running for president to the presidents of the war in iraq is not as important as the war in afghanistan. the president was sworn in in january. he issued a new set of documents for the war in afghanistan. they fired the general in charge. they hired a general mcchrystal. the general says he needs more troops. the president is responding to everything he said during the campaign. the new general rehired, the new plan, and he is doing it in a sense of protecting americans from what we know happens here, and maybe a lot of things that i cannot tell you because they are classified, but there is terrorist activity in the united states. what goes on in other countries has to do with the protection of americans. the number one obligation of the federal government is our national security. the state governments, the local governments, do not protect you from foreign i

mo mo somalia is one.ts toward that happening in any kind of broadway and consensus building that enough nationsç are concerned enough about the dangers of failed states that a broader integrated effort will take place? that is a broad question. i think i will leave it this wh wh guest: in pakistan and afghanistan you seeç the effor being led by the united states, butç there are nato countries that are joining the united states in that effort. the problem is that a lot of these situations of failed states, as a broad subject, becomes very specific we you talk about specific countries like afghanistan. then there arises the question of the popularity of that in the country. afghanistan ha feted as cause among nato countries. while the united states had a lot of allies when we first went in afghanistan, a lot of these countries that were our countries have tired of these wars. they have associated them with george bush. and the leaders of these countries don't have the popular support to provide as much a

defeat the violent extremists who threaten us whether they are from afghanistan or pakistan, yemen, or somalia or anywhere. -- anywhere where they are plotting attacks against the u.s. homeland. the american people should remain vigilant but also be confident. those plot against us seek not only to undermine our security but also the open society and the values that we cherish as americans. this incident like several that have preceded it demonstrates that an alert and courageous citizenry are far more resilient than an isolated extremist. we will do everything in our power to protect our country. we will never give in to fear or division. we will be guided by our hopes, unity, and are deeply held values. that is who we are as americans. that is what our brave men and women in uniform are standing up for as they spend the holidays in harm's way. will continue to do everything we can to keep america safe in the heat -- new year and beyond. before i leave, let me briefly address the events that have taken place in iran. the u.s. joins with the international community in condemning the violence a

where al qaeda and its allies attempt to establish a foothold, whether in somalia or yemen or elsewhere, they must be confronted by growing pressure and strong partnerships. and we cannot count on military might alone. we have to invest in our homeland security because we cannot capture or kill every violent extremist abroad. we have to improve and that record made our intelligence so that we stay one step ahead of scherwin networks. -- shadowy network. we will have to take with tools of mass destruction. that is why i have made a central pillar of our foreign policy to secure nuclear -- lucent nuclear materials from terrorists, to stop nuclear weapons, and to pursue the goal of a world without them because every nation must understand that true security will never come from an analyst raised her for ever more destructive weapons. true security will come from those who reject them. we will have to use diplomacy because no one nation can meet the challenges of an interconnected world acting alone. i spent this year renewing our alliances and forging new partnerships. we have forged a new